Startling research confirming Canberra was hit by a fire tornado in 2003 has brought back vivid memories of that "incredible", "amazing" and tragic day.

The news that scientists and analysts have confirmed Canberra was struck by the first recorded and documented fire tornado in the world provoked a large response from 666 ABC Local Radio listeners and online followers.

Janet Ilchef wrote on the 666 ABC Facebook page about her memories of that terrible day.

"Live embers falling on my roof and in the garden," she wrote. "Hosing down the house so it wouldn't catch fire. The absolute blackness. Driving my mother in law to an evacuation centre (in case we had to do a runner), with all the street and traffic lights out and the smoke pouring off Mount Taylor just like Mount Doom. And the evacuation centre being evacuated to the next college. No knowledge of when I'd see my family again."

Julie Roberts also relived her experiences through the ABC's Facebook page.

"I was singing with Lady's Mantle, at a wedding at St Andrews church in Forest,'' she wrote. "It was so dark, and nobody realised at that stage how serious things had become. One of our members lost her house in Chapman."

Hilary Wardhaugh was shooting photographs at a wedding on the day the fire struck.

"When I left my home at 2pm it was pitch dark with embers everywhere," she wrote on 666's Facebook page.

"Half the guests weren't there, the celebrant was 45 mins late, the band didn't arrive and the photographs had an orange sky, but in the end love prevailed!"

Local Radio presenter Genevieve Jacobs spoke with a number of Canberrans on 666 ABC's Afternoon show about their memories of that day.

Ian told Genevieve he was coming in from Yass and was near Murrumbateman when he spotted the storm in the distance.

"It was black, going up to about 13 or 14000 feet,'' Ian said.

"It was an incredible sight. You couldn't see the flames of course but it was definitely this huge thunderstorm with a big anvil shape right over the Brindabellas."

Colin told Genevieve he would never forget the sound of the fire when it arrived and that it "would have done justice to a 747 either taking off and landing".

"But the amazing thing was that the storm, or whatever it was, preceded the fire and this wasn't just hurling just twigs or small branches, it was hurling large lumps of wood."

Special risks analyst with the ACT Emergency Services Agency Rick McRae was the lead researcher and report co-author into the fire tornado.

Mr McRae said the report team used a number of information sources such as weather radar, satellites, thermal imaging and photographs submitted by the public to reach the conclusion that Canberra had the dubious honour of being the first place in the world to be struck by a confirmed fire tornado.